Hooks and eyes

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to hooks and eyes of the type which may be screwed on to the ends of helically wound curtain cords or into supporting surfaces. In accordance with the main feature of the invention there is provided such a hook or eye of which at least a straight shank portion is at least partly surrounded over at least part of its length by a shroud that is spaced from the said shank thereby to provide an annular gap therebetween. The shroud serves either to permit the leading end of a curtain cord to extend sealingly between the shroud and the shank or to space the hook or eye from a supporting surface into which it is screwed. The shank may be screw threaded or may be unthreaded and formed of material that will become self-threaded as screwed into a thread such as that of a helically wound curtain cord. In one embodiment of the invention the shroud is moulded as an integral part of the hook or eye thereby to form therewith a one-piece unit.

United States Patent Rudd [s41 HOOKS AND EYES [72] -lnventor: Kenneth Norman Rudd, No. 8

Greenacres, Ashington, England [22] 1 Filed: July 20, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 56,494

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 7, 1969 Great Britain ..54,598/69 Aug. 25, 1969 Great Britain ..42,238/69 [52] US. Cl ..24/122.3, 24/230.5 W, 24/123, 287/82 [51] Int. Cl. ..A44b 13/00 [58] Field of Search .24/73 HH, 122.3, 230.5, 123 R; 287/82, 81; 29/517; 248/339, 304

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,931,853 4/1960 Wilson ..24/230.5 SL 1,835,068 12/1931 Livermore ..24/l22.3 2,211,615 8/1940 Brickman .....24/122.3

2,225,865 12/1940 Harris ..24/l22.3 2,286,097 6/1942 Johnson ..29/5l7 eeez Dec. 5, 1972 2,694,844 11/1954 Grumbach ..24/73HH Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak AttorneyCullen, Settle, Sloman & Cantor [57] ABSTRACT The present invention relates to hooks and eyes of the type which may be screwed on to the ends of helically over at least part of its length by a shroud that is spaced from the said shank thereby to provide an annular gap therebetween. The shroud serves either to permit the leading end of a curtain cord to extend sealingly between the shroud and the shank or to space the hook or eye from a supporting surface into which it is screwed. The shank may be screw threaded or may be unthreaded and formed of material that will become self-threaded as screwed into a thread such as that of a helically wound curtain cord. ln one embodiment of the invention the shroud is moulded as an integral part of the hook or eye thereby to form therewith a one-piece unit.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures HOOKS AND EYES The present invention relates to hooks and eyes, for instance, but not exclusively, of the type that can be screwed onto the ends of helically wound curtain cord,

and has as a general object the provision of improved said articles.

As implied above the invention will be predominantly described with reference to hooks and eyes of the kind that may be screwed onto the ends of spiral cord or wire of the kind that may be passed through a hem of curtaining material, which spiral wire is subsequently stretched tight between fixed points that said hooks or eyes, one at each end of the spiral wire, engage. Such description is however by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting on the scope of the present invention which may apply also to surface fitting hooks and eyes.

When helically wound curtain cord is to be threaded through an upper or lower hem of a curtain it is conventional practice to screw a hook or eye into the leading end of the cord, not only because a hook or eye is required at each end of the cord, but also to facilitate the passage of the cord through the hem. Without a hook or eye at its leading end the cord will repeatedly snag against the weave of the curtain and so make the threading of the cord through the hem a difficult operation. However, the presence of a hook or eye at the leading end of the cord, while minimizing thetendency to snag, does not altogether obviate it since the thickness of the hook or eye in one direction is less than the outer diameter of the helical cord. Thus on each I side of the plane containing the hook or eye there are parts of the outer circumference of the cord that are still capable of snagging the curtain.

It is for this reason of advantage to provide a hook or eye which, when secured to the leading end of a helically wound cord, effectively prevents any part of the leading end of the cord from snagging against the curtain.

According to the basic aspect of the invention there is provided a hook, by which term it is intended to embrace a hook or eye, e.g., for screwing into an end of a helically coiled curtain cord, which hook comprises a hook portion, i.e., a hook or eye portion, and of which hook at least a shank is at least partly surrounded over at least part of its length by a shroud that is spaced from the said shank thereby to provide an annular gap therebetween, e.g., of size sufficient to permit the leading end of a curtain cord to extend sealingly between said shroud and the shank of the hook.

The hook or eye may be of metal or plastics and preferably the shroud is of plastics, molded as an integral part of the hook to form therewith a one-piece unit.

The outer contours of the shroud are preferably such that it flows smoothly into or towards the hook or eye so as to facilitate the smooth passage thereof through a curtain hem when fitted on the leading end of a curtain cord.

Advantageously the shank is tapered and if desired it may be threaded. It has been found, however, that when the shank is made of synthetic plastics, for instance nylon, there is no necessity for it to be preformed with a thread. Thus in accordance with an alter native embodiment of the invention the shank is not may be of U-shape, one arm of the U-shape having at its free end and at right-angles thereto, a pointed shank extending away from the other arm of the U-shape. This pointed shank may be threaded as a woodscrew or alternatively may be twisted as a corkscrew.

Preferably the arm that carries the pointed shank is shorter than the other arm of the U-shape and the cross piece of the U-shape is small in dimension, for example equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the flat elongated area of the eye with which it is to be associated.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a hook or eye comprises a shroud, e.g., of synthetic plastics material, so applied as to. provide a bell-shaped mouth extending round the shank of the hook or eye, said bell -shaped mouth being of such internal diameter and so positioned relatively to the shank'of the hook or eye that when said hook or eye has its shank screwed into the bore of a spiral cord the end of the spiral cord extends into the bell-shaped mouth. As will be evident the bell-shaped mouth, when so positioned on the leading end of the spiral cord, will effectively prevent the leading end of the spiral wire from snagging the material of a curtain hem as it is passed therethrough or as the curtain is subsequently moved relatively to the end or ends of the spiral cord.

At this juncture it should be confirmed that the term bell-shaped mouth is intended to cover any shape that will form a transition between a shroud or sleeve diameter that closely or tightly embraces a shank of a hook or eye and the shroud or sleeve diameter that closely or tightly embraces a spiral cord.

In such an embodiment it is preferable that the bellshaped mouth should allow a tight entry of only the spiral cord into the sleeve thereby to seal the ends of the spiral cord against dust and rust.

The aforementioned shroud may extend around all or part of only the shank of the hook or eye, e.g., as a slip-on tube or a moulded-on sleeve, or it may be in the form of a moulding that extends not only around the shank of the hook or eye but also around at least a part of the curved extent thereof.

As indicated by the opening passages of the present specification the present invention is concerned not only with hooks and eyes for association with spiral cords or wires but also with hooks or eyes having screwed shanks permitting them to be screwed into wood or other supporting structures, e.g., so that said hooks or eyes may act as panel fittings. As will be evident the shroud provided on the threaded shanks of the hook or eye will serve to limit the extent by which it may be screwed into a supporting structure. It is also envisaged as possible, in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention, for the hook or eye to be provided with a cap of synthetic plastics material that is either pressed on or moulded on a curved part of the hook or eye. Preferably the said cap is symmetrical about an axis defined by the shank and if of the pressed-on type is preferably pressed on in the axial direction of the shank, the movement for pressing on the said cap commencing from a curved end of the hook or eye and being directed towards the shank. To this end each cap is preferably provided on one side or face with a slot capable of accepting the said curved end. a

The curved part of the hook or eye may be round or rounded or of U-shape. If of U-shape the shank may extend as a continuation normal to one end of the U- shape, or as a continuation parallel to one arm of the U- shape. It is also regarded as possible for the caps as referred to above to be provided with a sleeve serving as a shroud projecting normally from the side or face of the cap formed with the aforesaid slot. In such a case the hook or eye is fitted into the slotted face of the cap by feeding its curved end through said sleeve and then into the slotted face of the cap, said sleeve serving, when the head of the hook has been fully inserted into the cap, to centralize the threaded extent of the hook with respect to the cap.

Generally construction of the hook or eye in accordance with the invention is by clipping of a nickelplated hook oreye of standard pattern in a'suitable fluid by holding the said hook or eye by its thread in a suitable barrel-shaped block, whereby the outside of the barrel determines the internal diameter of the subsequent shroud. The depth to which such an arrangement is dipped, the period for which it is dipped and the number of times that it is dipped, govern the thickness of the final coating and various drying processes may thereafter be used, e.g., an infra red oven.

As an alternative it is envisaged that production could be by pressure injection moulding with tooling to hold a hook or eye in a position in a pressure injection moulding tool and a skin of nylon or other plastics thereafter injected into the mould thereby to completely cover the item. Such a mould would conveniently be split horizontally.

e As a further alternative it is envisaged that the entire hook or eye may be moulded in any suitable plastics material such as nylon.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood reference will now be made to the accompanying unsealed and often intentionally exaggerated drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. I illustrates in schematic section a first embodiment of hook or eye according to the invention;

FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c illustrate an alternative form of hook and eye according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c illustrate a further form of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 a hook or eye according to the invention may comprise a metal hook or eye 1 of generally conventional type, which is provided with a threaded shank 2 for screwing into wood or a spiral cord as shown at 3. The curve of the hook or eye is coated at 4 with any suitable coating material which extends over the thread 2, as a shroud 5. In the illustrated embodiment the shroud 5 merges into the coating 4 and is of the same material as the said coating but the shroud 5 may be present alone.. As indicated, the shroud surrounds the thread 2 with an annular gap therebetween so dimensioned as to allow entryof the spiral wire 3 in a sealing manner. As also indicated the shroud may extend either partly or wholly over the shank length for surface spacing or cord embracing purposes respectively.

Portions of the hook or eye and shroud are integrated into a single or unitary member in that as the shank portion is inserted into the wire bore, the shroud is simultaneously and automatically brought into a position in which it surrounds the wire end.

In FIGS. 2a and 2b there is illustrated a modified eye according to the invention, in plan and broken away plan respectively, and a modified hook 200 is shown diagrammatically from the side in FIG. 20. The eye of FIGS. 2a and 2b comprises rectangular member 20 with a rectangular slot 21 therein, the member 20 being extended by a shroud 22 (shown dotted in FIG. 2b) which surrounds an internal shank or spigot 23 with a free space therebetween. All the said parts of the eye are conveniently formed of nylon and are integrated one with the other. In use a spiral .cord or wire is inserted in the annular gap between the spigot 23 and the shroud 22 in the manner referred to with reference to FIG. 1, there being mating and sealing engagement of the respective parts by self-tapping deformation of the shroud in sympathy with the spiral wire so that the one is gripped by the other.

The hook 200 may be secured to a wire end (as described above) with its shroud (shown dotted) overlapping and in sealing engagement with the wire end; alternatively, the books may be used as support hooks screwed into fixing points disposed above a window at opposite ends thereof, and the eyes of FIGS. 20 and 2b attached to the ends of a wire would be secured to the hooks by means of the rectangular slots 21.

In FIGS. 3a and 30 there is illustrated respectively in plan from below and from the side a protective and decorative soft plastic cap 30, internally slotted at 31 to engage a hook200 of the type illustrated inFIG. 2c when employed as support hooks.

In FIG. 3b the two parts are shown interengaged.

Various embodiments of the invention are, of course, possible within the scope of the appended ciaims.

What is claimed is:

I. A unitary hook for attachment to an end of a helically wound, plastics covered, curtain wire, comprising a hook portion, a screw-threaded shank portion integral with the hook portion and extending therefrom for insertion by rotation into the bore of the wire, a layer of plastics material covering the hook portion and including an elongated shroud portion surrounding the shank portion in spaced relationship therewith to pro vide an annular recess which will accommodate the end portion of the curtain wire, when the hook is attached to the wire, so that the shroud is in close surface to surface relationship with the plastics covering of the wire.

2. A unitary eye for attachment to an end of a helically wound, plastics covered, curtain wire, comprising an annular eye portion, a screw-threaded shank portion integral with the eye portion and extending therefrom for insertion by rotation into the bore of the wire, a

layer of plastics material covering the eye portion and including an elongated shroud portion surrounding the shank portion in spaced relationship therewith to provide an annular recess which will accommodate the end portion of the curtain wire, when the eye is attached to the wire, so that the shroud is in close surface to surface relationship with the plastics covering the wire. 

1. A unitary hook for attachment to an end of a helically wound, plastics covered, curtain wire, comprising a hook portion, a screw-threaded shank portion integral with the hook portion and extending therefrom for insertion by rotation into the bore of the wire, a layer of plastics material covering the hook portion and including an elongated shroud portion surrounding the shank portion in spaced relationship therewith to provide an annular recess which will accommodate the end portion of the curtain wire, when the hook is attached to the wire, so that the shroud is in close surface to surface relationship with the plastics covering of the wire.
 2. A unitary eye for attachment to an end of a helically wound, plastics covered, curtain wire, comprising an annular eye portion, a screw-threaded shank portion integral with the eye portion and extending therefrom for insertion by rotation into the bore of the wire, a layer of plastics material covering the eye portion and including an elongated shroud portion surrounding the shank portion in spaced relationship therewith to provide an annular recess which will accommodate the end portion of the curtain wire, when the eye is attached to the wire, so that the shroud is in close surface to surface relationship with the plastics covering the wire. 